1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microreactor for mixing fluids including liquids and gases, and for causing the fluids to undergo chemical reaction, in a fine-scaled confinement with typical lateral dimensions below 1 mm with high efficiency.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, fluid mixers of a type which is configured of fluid channels each with a length of tens to hundreds micrometers, and which is manufactured by use of nanometer process technology, have begun to be used in the field of chemical synthesis and analysis for the purpose of shortening time needed for mixture or chemical reaction, or for the purpose of checking secondary reaction. Fluid mixers of this kind are termed as micromixers or microreactors. In the case of micromixers, a representative length of fluid channels is short so that the Reynolds number, which is a dimensionless number, and which represents a ratio of an inertia force to a viscous force of a fluid, is accordingly small. For this reason, the flow of the fluid is a laminar flow. As a result, in a case where multiple fluids are mixed together, the mixture progresses chiefly through molecular diffusion.
On the basis of this, the shorter the representative length of fluid channels is made, the shorter the diffusion distance becomes, and the faster mixture can be realized. In addition, its miniaturization increases the surface area of each fluid channel per volume, and accordingly increases a rate of heat transferred to the fluid in the channel. This makes it possible to accurately control the temperature of a reactant liquid, and to thus increase the efficiency of a chemical reaction in a case where the chemical reaction accompanying heat of reaction is performed by the microreactor.
In addition, it has been known that, for the purpose of stabilizing chemical reaction irrespective of the varying velocity and flow rate of a fluid, a microchannel serving as a fluid channel through which the fluid flows is provided with multiple microheaters in the same direction as the fluid flows to make the chemical reaction progress under heat control. This has been described, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2003-47839 (hereinafter referred to as a “Patent Document 1”).
Besides, it has been known that, for the purpose of reducing pressure loss, multiple nozzles for one of two different liquids and multiple nozzles for the other of the two liquids are arranged in an alternate sequence so that a laminar flow in which the two liquids flow alternately is created. This has been described, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2006-102681 (hereinafter referred to as a “Patent Document 2”).